Wesley Brown was 15 years old at the time of a vehicular homicide he was found responsible for … of course, a tragedy occurred. Now Brown is 17 years old and his sentence exceeds his current age (“Teen gets 20 years in fatal Boca crash,” Friday).

Where is mercy, or a fair judge? Teenagers are not always capable of mature decisions. It takes until age 21 to reach that plateau. By imposing such a cruel lengthy term for this young boy, no purpose is served.

AUDREY GREENE, JUPITER

Trump’s Syria stunt

broke a promise

President Donald J. Trump’s launching of 59 cruise missiles at a Syrian airbase last week accomplished nothing more than demonstrating that he is willing to act without authorization to prove he is tough. President Barack Obama wanted to punish Syria when Bashar al-Assad last used chemical weapons, but couldn’t get an authorization vote through Congress. Trump bypassed Congress.

In addition, nothing strategic against the Syrian military was accomplished because Trump warned Russia at least an hour prior to the attack. Russia is Syria’s ally and had troops at the airbase. When Trump warned Russian President Vladimir Putin, he essentially was warning the Syrians. This broke a campaign promise not to warn enemies of impending military action. The result of warning the Russians and Syrians was that only six Syrians were killed, and pictures immediately after the attack showed no aircraft wreckage. It was also reported that the chemical weapons were not targeted because the release of those gases would have killed more civilians. This was a pinprick, and the airbase will be rebuilt by the Russians in a matter of months.

So what’s wrong with merely a symbolic response to the use of chemical weapons against civilians? Nothing, unless you consider the cost of each cruise missile. That’s millions of dollars (per missile), which the Trump administration tells us we can’t afford when it comes to funding Meals on Wheels for veterans and the elderly.

Maybe one cruise missile hitting Assad’s home would have sent a more powerful message.

RANDY JOHNSON, BOYNTON BEACH

Trump’s right; U.S.

must fight to win

It has been stated that President Trump puts our country at risk. I totally disagree with this view. If a bully pushes you and you allow it, they will continue to push. Whether an individual or country, if you do not resist, you are facing terror. Ask the millions of men and women who served in World War II.

I’m sure that as crazy as the North Korean leader is, he knows his country would be destroyed at the first sign of aggression. I wonder how many submarines carrying nuclear weapons surround North Korea?

We just finished eight years of turning our cheek, let’s follow the policy of one of our allies, (Israel) and not take any threats, or pushing from any of these adversaries.

The last thing anyone wants is to fight; but if you do, fight to win.

NORMAN KAUFMAN, LAKE WORTH

Who profits from

use of Tomahawks?

The only people who will benefit from President Donald Trump’s Tomahawk cruise missile bombing of a Syrian airbase are stockholders of Raytheon. I wonder how many in Congress have Raytheon in their stock portfolio?

Each Tomahawk costs between $1.5 million and $1.87 million. Fifty-nine Tomahawks were launched on Syria in one day at a cost of approximately $75 million. This is not counting the ones that have been launched on ISIS in the past two years.

Maybe the great deal-maker Trump will get the price of a Tomahawk down a million or so. But will this bombing change the Assad regime? Certainly not. Will this bombing save lives in reality? Certainly not. We seem to forget that Tomahawks kill people. Hence, Trump’s logic of bombing is faulty. Do we kill people in order to save people?

KAY JONES, LAKE CLARKE SHORES

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